When I receive the itinerary for the upcoming week and I see the words “solo traveler”, a couple of things come to my mind. Traveling solo, how cool and WOW! This girl is courageous! We have many solo travelers that attend our camp each week, some who end up in groups of other chicas who booked for the week, then some who end up the only camper, but all seem to have the same mentality… have fun and get some good waves!
This week, we had a solo traveler and camper Megan, who came to us from Washington. With tons of snowboarding experience and only a handful of times surfing before coming to Nicaragua, Megan was nothing short but a natural at the sport. Not only was it her first time traveling solo internationally, but it was also her first time surfing in just a bikini. What a difference from her regular 3/2mm suit and booties at home!
With the initial goal to build confidence in the water and in her surfing, on Megan’s first wave, she paddled into a head high set wave and flew right down the line. She continued to progress her surfing throughout the week with much needed Beyonce car ride sing alongs, amazing food at our many delicious restaurants in San Juan and cold Toñas.
Megan not only surfed ALL week, but was able to watch a Nicaraguan Surf Contest where two of our instructors competed and made the podium for the women’s division, went horseback riding on the beautiful beach of Playa Yankee with Rancho Chilamate and their awesome crew and even got to communicate (or at least attempt to communicate) with a family of Howler monkeys who got up close and personal! We laughed throughout the day, surfed till sunset and danced the night away while waiting for the highly anticipated beat to drop! Watch the beat drop in our video!
So now you ask me, what I think when I see the words “solo traveler” on my future itineraries, and I can only hope that they are like Megan… Strong, fun and the true definition of a Chica Brava (brave girl)!
Annaleigh Jaildagian
Surf Instructor Extraordinaire
Surf House, August 29-September 5, 2015